Terrorism now part of "normal" society, expert says

Nancy Flake

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, October 10, 2001

Richard Ward, dean and director of the Criminal Justice Center at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, led a seminar on "Terrorism and the New World Disorder" as part of the college's weekly seminar series running through Oct. 31.

Ward, who has written numerous books and has worked with police in more than 50 countries, was joined by Lance Hignite, a criminal justice adjunct faculty member at Montgomery College.

About 80 people of all ages and several races filled the classroom where the seminar was held to hear Ward and Hignite dissect various aspects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

"I think there are no experts on terrorism today, except for the terrorists themselves," Ward said. "I've spent time in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and I don't believe we're going to see any huge Muslim uprising.

"Most of my friends in the Middle East are shocked by this."

Ward showed a Defense Intelligence Agency slide presentation that was made before the Sept. 11 attacks. That presentation made many observations about terrorism, including the fact that the United States is targeted more than any other country because there is more resentment among terrorists toward the United States.

And while there are now about 400 to 600 terrorists in custody around the world since Sept. 11, there are still 100 to 200 "out there," Ward estimated.

"The training was very good for the individuals involved," Ward said about the attacks. "A little box cutter cost the United States $150 billion and 5,000 lives."

Indiscriminate attacks against the U.S. will most likely increase, he added. "Whether it's blowing up a bridge, tunnel or a truck, these are designed to increase fear," Ward said.

"I grew up in New York, and those people are hard. When I talked to some of my friends up there after the attacks, I was shocked at how much fear there is."

Hignite then discussed the current freezing of terrorists' assets by the United States and other countries.

He listed several reasons why it isn't working:

* Terrorists still have access to large amounts of funds.

* There is a lack of cooperation between federal government agencies.

* Asking banks to be our "policemen" in tracking terrorists' assets is a major problem because many banks don't have any type of investigative skills.

"We're not going to be able to stop everybody," Hignite said.

Questions from the audience ranged from asking about Saddam Hussein's role in terrorism to the possibility of restricting certain freedoms under the Constitution.

"We have to be very careful about restricting freedoms across the board," Ward said. "I feel very strongly about this. This was a well-run plan, and it worked.

"There are going to be long-term costs in civilian deaths, and we have to be prepared for that.